I use a top loader that does HE with my diapers - the Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart. I love the machine. I use prefolds, polyester/PUL covers, and polyester pocket diapers (I also use a wool cover but I hand-rinse and lanolize it). I use Charlie's soap and Calgon to wash the diapers (we have slightly hard water). I don't do any soaking or bleaching and rarely wash a poopy diaper anymore, just urine ones (I potty my 8 month old and have since 4 months, called elimination communication, infant pottying, etc.). Even when I get a diaper with poop, I just throw it in the washer and do my normal loads. Then again, I'm not completely satisfied with the washing process because none of the preset programs match exactly what I'm trying to do. What I want to do is a simple soak, short agitation, and rinse, all on cold with 1/2 the normal detergent. This gets out the urine and stuff without setting the stains. Then I run a hot cycle with full detergent. What I have to do with this washer, though, is run a full cold cycle with a 2 hour soak (because there's no way to shorten the soak). I usually set this going overnight because it takes so long! I love so many things about this washer, including the delay feature, but I need a shorter cold rinse cycle with maybe 1/2 hr soak. I also love how this washer can flip between HE and conventional. I wash the diapers using the conventional method, which is not too water-piggy compared to true conventional washers. I've been using the hot cycle on my pocket diapers for 8 months and the elastic is fine. I think I can contact the F&P techs to program my own cycle. Anyone have experience with this?

In cycles that don't use the internal water heater (such as Cotton/Normal), the soft goal of modern LG clothes washers is for warm to mean 85F/30C, and hot to mean 105F/40C. These objectives are often missed by a few degrees because the machines seem to treat the goal temperature as something to be aimed for in an idealized universe, but **at all costs** not to be exceeded. My LG WM2250 and its replacement, the WM3470 which I have now, Cotton/Normal cycle + warm usually results in around 77-80F, and Cotton/Normal + hot usually results in around 90-95F. In washers with an internal water heater built-in, when you want very warm water, select the whites cycle, and hot temp. This is likely to result in a relatively consistent 105F wash, at least for LG washers. Most people would consider 105F/40C to be somewhere around Very Warm. I select the Allergiene cycle when I want a truly hot wash, as its goal is 131F, and -- refreshingly -- it really does get there. As I learn more about my LG WM3470, I'm finding ways to get it to obey my wishes, but it has required experimentation and investigation beyond that which should be necessary IMO; it's rare to find a company that tailors the presentation of its products to the OCD amongst us, however. This post was edited by johnmk on Sun, Feb 24, 13 at 19:46

After reading all these comments, I'd like to say that drying your front-loader gasket thoroughly after finishing your loads is something you just need to do- it takes less time than writing these comments/questions! My Electrolux is 10 years old and I always left the door open; with a dehumidifier in the room I thought that was enough. I was wrong. I love this washer, but bought a new HE top-loader ( a big expense for us) and returned it after one day- it was worse than useless. We ordered a new gasket, since I realized that over time the old one had molded and was not salvageable. My husband replaced it with the help of the video and the instructions that came with it. He is handy but had never done anything like this. It was not as difficult as you might imagine and was totally worth it. Now I get down on my knees on my garden kneeling pad and just dry it completely, and put in vinegar with blue jeans loads (this also helps set the dye on denim if you don't want them to fade too fast). I also use vinegar and hot water for towels. Once a week or so I run a hot cycle with vinegar and dry the gasket, and leave the door open. I do not use chlorine bleach at all because of the environmental impact and because of sensitive skin. Also use fragrance- and dye-free liquid detergent, and I'm wondering how much of an impact these ingredients are having on the mold problem y'all are having. All is well, still got my good machine. Dry that Gasket!

Yes, pigpig - this inquiring mind sure wants to know too!! Dadoes - it's so cool you're still here. I haven't been around in a decade I suppose, but GardenWeb was THE BEST helping me redesign my kitchen and house. There are so many on here so generous of their so extensive knowledge. My appreciation is kind of boundless here. Anyway... pigpig - I'm in precisely the same situation. I have a HE4T that is probably 21 years old? It's not broken, but it will be, I think, too costly to replace. And my love for the thing is perhaps not quite as traceable to flawlessness but laced with a bit of Stockholm syndrome? Over the years I've refloated the solder on the motherboard I think 3x? And replaced the collar once and the shocks once and the water flow stuff. Now the shocks are bad again and the collar is also leaking (ie rusting the body, not unrelated to the shocks problem). Since I guess that means I have to replace all the shocks, even though they're just ~$50 ea, all told we're looking at ~$400 repairs. Which on a two-decades old machine.... the cost:benefit starts to tilt against. SO.... back to GW. Or, I dunno, ...howz this different now? ;) Thus: I am very curious about your LG choice. I was thinking of making the same. My HE4T IIRC definitely started with that "110..." serial number so it's really a washed-over Whirlpool. Do they still exist? Dadoes said "was"... implying maybe not. I know, located at the bottom of a hill, we have very heavy water pressure here. That sounds bad from the outset. We do have a slate floor so that might help but this sort of hammering does sound like a pia and I'm a little nervous to try it. That said I loooooove our FL machine. I have used this machine so many thousands of times, washed so many thousands of diapers and bedding - I feel practically spiritual about it. I feel guilty about retiring it. But part of that is because I don't want to take on a new set of problems. The hammer-thing sounds horrible and it will be really good to know if you've been able to preempt it or if there's any good way to anticipate who will/does have issues. We certainly have a complaint bias/denominator problem in here inasmuch as a few people have chimed in with "no issues" but, given the popularity of these machines it does seem possible the proportion of problem-households/machines is really quite small. But again, knowing whether you were able to stave problems off at the pass, would be super-helpful. Also, I'm in the market for suggestions... *****sigh*****. Please hop in if you have any. I gather there's at least one major-proponent of Mieles in here. But the machines are awfully pricey. And cost and availability all seem to be competing in a post-covid screwed-up-supply-chain atmosphere, so.... Fwiw we have a Miele speed oven which has been/was a GREAT product until... it had a problem. Zero human beings seem to know how to fix them (even around here, which is LA, not what I would consider a small market). And my pitiful attempts have been half-successful and wholly-annoying. Thus, I'm reluctant to buy another Miele. BTW - another mentioned purchasing via ABT in Chgo, which is where we got that Miele speed oven. I second enthusiasm for Abt's support. They have been nothing but wonderful, even if it's 2000K miles from this urban center. I'd buy an appliance from them via mail again. Love Abt. So, at last, my q: ¿How to replace a HE4T 1:1? lol. I want a front loader. I want high efficiency. I don't want to destroy the water pipes. I want large enough to wash a kind size blanket, but not quilt necessarily. That's expendable as a need, but it seems sizes are either small or gigantic anyway. The 4T is actually 3.8 cuft I think, which is medium-sized by today's standards. It's plenty big-enough for us and I'm not eager to replace it with *bigger*, however, it seems there's not really a choice about that. Thanks amazing GW'ers. This place will always be GardenWeb to me.... BTW - here's a link to reviews of the new whirlpools. Lots of the reviews are "incenitivized", fwiw. Kinda meh-sounding a little? Hard to tell....